Covario Presents "Sigma" Awards to Eight Digital Marketing Leaders at Sixth Annual INFLECTIONPoint Conference

SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/09/12 -- Covario, Inc., the nations largest independent provider of search marketing agency services and solutions, presented its highest client honors -- the Sigma Awards -- to eight companies this week during the firms sixth annual INFLECTIONPoint customer conference in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The Sigma Awards are bestowed annually to enterprise companies, including major brand marketers and leading online retailers, who demonstrate thought-leadership and success not only in search marketing, but also in their overall approach to online marketing and media-mix planning.

Covarios latest Sigma recipients include Armstrong, Campmor, IBM, Intel, Rackspace, SolarCity, Tektronix, and T-Mobile.

Armstrong was recognized for the "Best Use of Analytics for Global SEO Programs." Armstrong effectively managed hundreds of Web pages and more than 1,000 keywords across several countries, which increased the ROI from its search marketing spend over the course of 2011.

Campmor was singled out for its "Search Remarketing Innovation and Performance." The outdoor retailer used remarketing ads to produce custom content that was aligned with the research its targeted consumers were doing on the Web. During the holiday season, Campmors remarketing initiatives produced nearly twice the conversion rate and about a third higher click-through rate (CTR) than what its static ads achieved in the past.

IBM was honored for the "Best Global Integration of Analytics for Paid and Organic Search." The company stands out for its use of intelligence generated from paid and organic search analytics to make data-driven decisions about online media-mix strategies. IBM was also acknowledged for automating the SEO audit process across global geographies and languages. Web page improvements led to increased prospect visits, engagements and conversions from natural search.

Intel was noted for "Paid Social Innovation and Fan Growth." Covario supported the global technology providers online marketing and the social media units with a successful Facebook fan acquisition strategy, netting more than 4.4 million "likes" for its primary fan page over an eight-month period. The overall cost per acquisition also dropped substantially within the first two months of the effort.

Rackspace was the Sigma recipient for "SEO Social Innovation." A leader in enterprise hosting and cloud computing, Rackspace launched a number of social media initiatives tied to successful organic search campaigns last year. With Covarios support, Rackspace executed hybrid social media/SEO campaigns that provided relevant content to its target audience, leveraging the viral nature of social media and favorably influencing organic search rankings.

SolarCity was spotlighted for having the "Most Innovative Landing Page Testing and Performance." The nations leading solar energy provider effectively utilized Covarios landing page testing and optimization methodologies to increase campaign landing page conversion rates and achieve success in 2011.

Tektronix took the prize for "Best SEO/SEM Integration." The global leader in high-tech test and measuring equipment worked with Covario on a holistic search strategy designed to maximize online traffic and dominate Web page search results across the major search engines. Tektronixs approach to integrating organic (SEO) and paid (SEM) search strategies in 2011 drove a 50 percent increase in both traffic and leads over the prior year.

Finally, the Sigma for the "Best Overall SEO Program" went to T-Mobile. Out-of-the-box thinking and a host of innovative SEO strategies, including in-person educational workshops and new consulting programs, helped T-Mobile achieve significant improvement from organic search last year.

"The principle that guides all of our Sigma Award winners is that search programs cannot be conducted in a vacuum if they are to be operated at their most efficient level," said Covario CEO Russ Mann. "These Fortune 500 and Internet 1,000 online marketing leaders take a strategic, integrated approach to digital advertising, fully leveraging the most advanced search marketing services and solutions available to the global enterprise market."

About Covario

Covario is the nations largest independent provider of paid search and SEO agency services, as well as enterprise SEO management solutions. The firm is also the developer of a unique platform for cross-media optimization and attribution analysis, known as the Covario CMO Dashboard153;. Headquartered in San Diego, the firm has more than 130 team members worldwide with offices in Chicago, London, Beijing, Tokyo, and Singapore. Covarios growing customer base includes world leaders in technology, consumer electronics, retail, ecommerce, financial services, media, entertainment, publishing, and consumer packaged goods. More information is available at http://www.covario.com.